2015 El Molino, Chardonnay, Rutherford, Napa Valley, California, USA

2015 El Molino, Chardonnay, Rutherford, Napa Valley, California, USA

Product: 20151717598
 
2015 El Molino, Chardonnay, Rutherford, Napa Valley, California, USA

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

Founded in 1871, El Molino was one of the first wineries in the Napa Valley and it is still family owned. Unlike most of their neighbours in Rutherford who have planted Cabernet Sauvignon, they grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to great effect.

This wine is made with Burgundy clones of Chardonnay, planted in 1978. Barrel-fermented, but with no malolactic fermentation, the wine is vibrant with a mineral core. It spends eight months in bottle before release. Drink now to 2026.

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

About this WINE

El Molino Winery

El Molino Winery

El Molino is one of the oldest wineries in the Napa Valley (founded in 1871); however, up until the 1970s, the majority of their wine was sold in bulk rather than under their domaine label. South African winemaker Jon Berlin runs the estate with his American wife Lily Berlin. Unlike their neighbours, they focus on Pinot Noir rather than Cabernet Sauvignon from the Rutherford AVA. Production is extremely limited, with only 800 cases produced annually of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and although production largely remains in the USA, Berry Bros. & Rudd has managed to ship some across the Atlantic. These wines age beautifully and are one of the many small growers that are producing incredibly exciting wines from this fashionable region.

Find out more
California

California

While many North American states make wine, it's California (along with Washington State and Oregon) that drives the fine wine (vitis vinifera) industry.

In 2005 California alone accounted for 200,000 hectares of vinous vines (as opposed to those grown for jelly or raisins), well in excess of Washington's 12,150 hectares and Oregon's 5,500 hectares. California's Napa Valley is acknowledged to be the world's second-best source of Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux blends and Chardonnays (in Carneros), while its Santa Barbara and Sonoma Counties are home to world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Top-notch Zinfandel is also grown in Sonoma County.

The Californian wine industry was born in the south on the back of 18th century Spanish missionaries, and it consolidated in the north following the 1849 Gold Rush. Soon after, vitis vinifera varieties including Zinfandel made their appearance, edging out the inferior Mission grape. French and German immigrants (Krug, Schram, Beringer) helped develop the industry initially in Sonoma and then Napa, before fanning out to the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of the Bay area.

Cabernet Sauvignon was first produced as a wine in Sonoma in the late 19th century, at a time when many of Napa's reds were made from Rhône varieties and Zinfandel. The viticultural boom was accelerated by the transnational railway but was then literally stopped in its tracks by Phylloxera during the 1890s. However, as with Europe, a negative was turned into a positive as the disease allowed the industry to effect many viticultural improvements (varieties, vine densities, trellising). Prohibition threatened to further derail the industry further, were it not for an unprecedented demand for grapes for home winemaking, as well as for sacramental wine. 

Despite the Repeal in 1933, the Fine Wine (ie Napa) industry didn't recover until the 1960s, when the likes of Chateau Montelena, Heitz, Robert Mondavi and Paul Draper made their move. In 1976, several of Napa's wines outshone their French counterparts in a blind tasting known as ‘The Judgement of Paris’. Such success was short-lived however, as the industry was hit first by the oil crisis, then by the re-emergence of Phylloxera during the late 1980s; the fad for White Zinfandel was an additional setback.

The modern era continues to see an insatiable appetite for Napa wineries, pushing the price of land beyond even the reach of the Silicon Valley techies, piling even more pressure on winemakers to hit 100 points and so justify their fee and the $150-per-bottle price tags.

Californian viticulture is made possible thanks to the presence of the Pacific Ocean, its cool Humboldt Current tempering the summer heat through cyclical onshore breezes and rolling fog, so extending the ripening time of the grapes.

Additionally, to the east of San Francisco the 5,000-metre-tall Sierra Nevada mountain range triggers precipitation, which in turn feeds Central Coast irrigation channels. While the Winkler scale of heat summation points to regional differences, it appears to ignore the subtleties of terroir.

Find out more
Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.

Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.

Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.

Find out more